El Xamfra Mercat Brut Nature Cava Penedes

SKU #109214791 points
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2009 Mercat Brut Nature is the same blend but with 0.3 grams/l residual sugar. It has a wonderful peachy bouquet that blossoms in the glass with hints of dried apricot and honeysuckle. The palate is very well-balanced with crisp acidity and a fine thread of bitter lemon that lends tension and poise, leading to a very champagnoise finish. Excellent! Drink now-2015+.
(4/2012)

Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar

(a blend of macabeo, xarel-lo and parellada; no dosage): Pale yellow. Pear skin, peach and a hint of toasted nuts on the pungent nose. Juicy and penetrating, with good cut to its orchard fruit and lemon rind flavors. Shows a dry edge on the finish, which echoes the citrus and nut notes. The focus and heft of this Cava should enable it to work well with a range of light and rich foods.
(11/2011)

K&L Notes

The Wine Advocate has a new Spanish critic, Neal Martin. It is very telling, I think, that he has begun his beat in Catalunya, a region producing such a wide variety of delicious, well balanced, unsung heroes of Spanish wine. One of these would be Cava, which when it is well made offers the refreshment of your favorite sparkling, with some of the refinement of Champagne (Cava undergoes a secondary fermentation in the bottle, same as in Champagne) for a fraction of the price. We cannot wait to introduce you to our own direct import Cavas, but until then, let this delicious blend of traditional Cava varietals--Macabeo, Xarel-lo, and Parellada--tide you over...(Joe Manekin, K&L Spanish Wine Buyer). *Please note that in the review below, the publication mistakenly labeled this as a vintage dated product; in fact this cava is actually non-vintage. We have confirmed this information with the importer.

This is serious bubbly. Bottled as a brut nature, there is no dosage, or sugar, added, something that is quite rare for sparkling wine. It's also risky, as the wine needs to be characterful and balanced enough on its own to taste good. Fortunately the base material here is very high quality, as the xarel-lo, macabeo and parellada combines to create a slightly yeasty, yet crisp, citrus and mineral infused palate. This is certainly a brisk aperitif on its own, perfect for those of you who really like bone dry champagnes and sparkling wines. Of course this would be terrific with sushi as well, a classic pairing for this style of wine.

Additional Information:

Varietal:

Other White Wines

Country:

Spain

- With more land under vine than any other country in the world, Spain is the great sleeping wine giant. In recent years, a great deal of money and passion has been poured in the burgeoning Spanish wine industry, helping to improve quality among its vast array of wines from sparkling Cava to Sherry to Rioja Gran Reserva. The most important red-wine-producing regions are Rioja, Ribera del Duero and Navarra in the north and Priorat and Penedes in the northeast.